Gorillaz Stop a Sinister Sacrifice in New ‘Silent Running’ Video
Gorillaz stop a ritualistic sacrifice and save the world in the new video for their recent single, “Silent Running.”
The clip, co-directed by the animated outfit’s visual mastermind, Jamie Hewlett, and Fx Goby, finds the band infiltrating the headquarters of a shadowy group that’s captured vocalist 2-D and strapped him to a contraption that’s being slowly lowered into a pit occupied by a nasty looking monster. Luckily, the band intervenes in time, and while bassist Murdoc nearly messes the whole thing up, his peculiar potion — Essence Murdoc — slips out of his pocket, falls into the beast’s mouth, and causes it to explode.
The video ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, however, with Murdoc scurrying away and his bandmates — 2-D, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs — holding up their hands as red-and-blue police lights flash.
Gorillaz dropped “Silent Running,” which features longtime collaborator Adeleye Omotayo, back in January. The song will appear on the group’s upcoming album Cracker Island, out Feb. 24.
“Silent Running,” per a press release, was the first Cracker Island song Gorillaz worked on with producer Greg Kurstin at his studio in Los Angeles. Musical mastermind Damon Albarn described the mid-tempo funk gem as having “that sort of mesmerizing dreamlike state you get in when you’re just following some train of thought.”
Or, as Gorillaz’s animated frontman 2D evocatively put it, “Sometimes I get well lost and end up in the wrong place but then it turns out that’s where I was meant to be going anyway.”
“Silent Running” is the fifth song Gorillaz have shared from Cracker Island, along with “Skinny Ape,” “Baby Queen,” “New Gold” (featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown), and “Cracker Island” (featuring Thundercat). The album will also feature contributions from Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, and Beck.
This story was updated on 2/8/23 at 12:20 p.m. ET with the “Silent Running” music video.